Datuk Dev Kumar
KUCHING: Police approved a total of 218 permits Monday and yesterday for Pakan folk to travel to Sarikei.
Sarawak Deputy Police Commissioner Datuk Dev Kumar said 148 permits were approved on Monday and another 70, yesterday.
“Yesterday (Monday), 197 people came to Pakan police station to apply for (inter-district travel) permit but we only approved 148.
“Those who need to travel for a special or particular reason would need to obtain prior written permission from the officer-in-charge of the police station nearest to his/her place of residence,” he told The Borneo Post via WhatsApp yesterday.
He added that in the case of Pakan folk, police would grant permission to travel to those with valid reason to so, such as going to the bank or petrol station.
Dev Kumar was asked to comment on the call by Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) which, in a statement yesterday, for the state government to immediately suspend the requirement for permit to travel from Pakan to Sarikei.
PSB was responding to a front-page report in The Borneo Post, regarding hundreds of Pakan folk queuing to enter the police station there to apply for inter-district travel permit.
Many of those in line needed to travel to Sarikei to withdraw money and buy petrol, due to Pakan not having an automated teller machine or petrol station.
PSB had pointed out that forcing people to congregate during the current Covid-19 situation makes a mockery of the movement control order and its effort to break the chain of transmission of the virus.